Think lean and mean. Successful press releases have great titles and informative, timely content. They are written in crisp prose with stats, facts and trends mentioned as appropriate.

They are also setup in a top-rich to bottom-lean format--think of an inverted pyramid with meaty intro news on top, a meaningful quote with basic attribution data. For example: "More women are wearing clothing made of organic materials than ever before," says Annie Waterman, president of FishStox, a new fashion-forward environmentally-sensitive stocking manufacturer based in Concord, New Hampshire." And interesting background data about the company or person, with contact details on the bottom (web address, phone number and e-mail address).

Do not include any overt advertising. Keep your press release simple and factual, mindful of search engine optimization (SEO) practices, using meaningful keywords in the title and body of the release wherever possible.

By buying from a company that's actively doing something praiseworthy, affluent consumers feel they're helping out as well-without having to do anything other than make a purchase they were going to make anyway. Find out how you can align your company with a cause they'd like to support.